


I wish I told you, instead of getting hurt

by Lerya



Series: Challenges (outside of discord) [12]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Getting Together, M/M, Miscommunication, Mission Gone Wrong, Oblivious Phoenix Marco, Oblivious Portgas D. Ace, Thatch is a great friend, masked Deuce is a great friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:00:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28695096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerya/pseuds/Lerya
Summary: Going on a mission together was a mistake, getting stuck in a closet together only made it worse - worse enough that both of them assumed the worst about the whole situation. Luckily both of them have a support system that make them see sense in all of this.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Series: Challenges (outside of discord) [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970032
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63
Collections: One Piece Bingo 2020/2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Made for the OP fleet Bingo, the prompts were 'mission gone wrong' and 'getting together'.

It should have been an easy mission, get into the Marine headquarters close to paradise and retrieve whatever information they could find about themselves, their allies, and people of interests. With the way not a lot of Marines were even stationed in the New World, none of them had expected any problems.

Yet here they were, the first and second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates hiding in a supply closet of all things, hoping that none of the Marines here at a grip over their observation haki.

As they had arrived at the island the base had been on, everything seemed quiet, almost too quiet, but they hadn’t minded that. According to their information, only low level marines were stationed here, almost as punishment, knowing that there was no way they could begin to start doing anything against the 4 Yonko that roamed this part of the sea.

How wring they had been, not only was there a multitude of marines running around, but a whole lot also more than Haruta’s reports suspected, and it would seem some sort of inspection was taking place, meaning the highest ranking marine present, was a vice-admiral, instead of the captain they were led to believe.

So here they were, pressed against one another in a supply closet, having taken the chance to hide in there, when the vice admiral spotted them, ordering every marine in the building to search for, and capture Marco the Phoenix, and Fire Fist Ace.

It should be a problem for either of them, but with the sheer number of marines present, this mission was a bust, a failure even before it started. For now, they were content in hiding until nightfall, if they weren’t found before that time – they could use the cover of the night to make it out of the base and back to where Striker was anchored on the other side of the island.

“How could it be that Haruta’s information was faulty”, Ace hissed at his companion.

The blond hushed him, pressing his ear against the door to listen for any sounds from outside, they had been here for a number of hours already, and he longed to get out of there.

“Marco!”

Turning to the freckled man, Marco hissed again, “shush, Ace -yoi.”

The fire logia just grumbled, but stayed quiet, giving Marco a chance to listen, or try to listen, to what was going on in the hallway.

“I don’t hear anyone -yoi. Haven’t for quite some time, with the duration of our stay in this closet, I think it’s night now, giving us a chance to sneak out -yoi.”

Ace nodded, before pushing open the door, peaking out – looking left, right, and left again, before opening the door much wider, the window on the other side of them indeed showing it to be night-time.

“Do you think they have given up the search?”

Marco shrugged his shoulders, “can never be too careful -yoi.”

Ace nodded before going into the direction they came from, hours ago, sneaking past any door they encountered, glad to hear any noise indicating the people inside were sleeping or otherwise occupied.

Finally, outside, both men sighed deeply, happy this was over. Marco sneaked a glance at Ace when the other man started walking in the direction, they had left Striker in, a frown on his face at the thought of what could have gone wrong with them being locked up so long in that broom closet.

Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t mind being in a closet with Ace, or on a bed, in the shower… but he didn’t think Ace felt the same way about him as he did. Marco could think of a lot of ways he would have loved to spend time with Ace in a broom closet but didn’t dare suggest that to the younger man.

He was after all, almost twice Ace’s age, and not all that attractive no matter what others told him about his appearance. Not compared to Ace – with his tendency to run around half-naked all the time, pushing him to his limits.

But he didn’t want to lose what he already had, this friendship he had with Ace, especially not for feelings he could keep pushed down so they wouldn’t interfere with whatever it was they did have going on. As there had been flirting and coy comments from both of them – but Ace never acted on those comments or hinted at there being anything more behind those comments then just friendly banter.

Rubbing is hand over his face, Marco followed a few paces behind the other man, trying not to think about the way he could see the back muscles move. He needed to stop thinking about this. It was bad enough that the Marines were able to take them by surprise, all because Marco was distracted by Ace’s ass when he had been bending over, looking through the files in the leading officer’s desk – if he’d been paying attention, in all ways that counted, he would have sensed the Marines approaching, which in turn would have negated them hiding in a closet.

He was way too old to be thirsting over a man half his age, who had only joined officially not even a year ago. The fact that he already got promoted to second division commander didn’t matter – Marco needed to stop this before anything even happened.

They made it back to the shoreline in a mater of moments, finding Striker where they had hidden the small boat, while Ace cut her lose and got in, he looked back at Marco and smiled, “ready to admit you blew that mission, old man?”

Marco grimaced, knowing Ace meant it as a joke, even if that was what had really happened, he had let his feelings get in the way of a mission they had needed to do. He didn’t look forward to the mission report, nor to the questions Oyaji would ask. Not to mention Haruta and Thatch.

Seeing Ace had already left, Marco jumped up and transformed, taking flight in full Phoenix form, hoping that by heaving a beak Ace wouldn’t be inclined to talk to him about what had happened, nor for the other man to find out he had blown the mission by getting distracted.

Arriving at the Moby had Marco walking towards his room without as much as a word to Ace, not helping him with Striker, like he used to – it might seem out of character for him, but he needed to take his distance from Ace, to make sure he never blew another mission by getting distracted.

First thing Marco did after he entered his room was fill in the mission report, just to get it over with, he didn’t need a reminder of what had happened. After that was done, he got back up and went over to the infirmary to check on everything that had happened while he was gone – the infirmary worked like a well oiled machine even if he, the head doctor, wasn’t present, but that still didn’t stop him from checking up on them after he returned.

It just so happened that Oyaji was there for a check-up, with April, one of the senior nurses preforming the checks. Both of them looked over when he entered and gave him a smile.

“You’re back awfully early, Marco, did everything go alright?”

Marco groaned, “I screwed up, Oyaji -yoi.”

He could see Oyaji asking April to leave the room for a moment, before he got up and turned towards Marco, a concerned look on his face.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve known you to screw up, Marco, what happened.”

Marco rubbed a hand over his eyes, “I got distracted…”

Oyaji blinked a few times, “by…”

Running a hand over the length of his face, Marco answered, “Ace -yoi.”

The rumbling of Whitebeard’s laughter could probably be felt for miles, the man did have a habit of activating his devil fruit when he laughed like he meant it, just like now.

“It’s not funny, Oyaji -yoi.”

The older man looked at one of his first children, a kind look in his eyes, “it kind of is, Marco, it is very easy to see how infatuated you are with Ace, and he with you. To know that it caused you to screw up a mission when it has been decades since this happened last, it’s funny.”

Marco groaned again, before the things Oyaji said made sense to him.

“Ace feels the same way -yoi?”

Oyaji nodded, after he blinked a few times, “he does, very obviously so, but he fears you won’t feel the same, not with the age difference, so he hasn’t made a move yet. He asked to be put on this mission, to try and see if you’d act on any advances he made.”

Marco gaped, “those weren’t jokes -yoi?”

Oyaji shook his head, “Ace very much meant what he told you these last few days, Marco, I hope you didn’t do or say anything that might be taken the wrong way.”

Marco opened and closed his mouth a few times, “I might -yoi.”

Oyaji sighed, “then go and talk to Ace, will you, son, to clear this out. We’re al getting rather tired of the, how did Thatch word it – ah yes, unresolved sexual tension.”

Marco would deny that he squawked like his bird form at hearing his Father saying such a thing, not thinking about it as he turned and almost ran out of the infirmary – looking for the Fire Logia they had on board.


	2. Chapter 2

Ace watched with a sad look in his eyes as Marco disappeared onto the deck of the Moby Dick, leaving him to store Striker alone, while the blond would normally help him every time – since that time in the broom closet at that marine base Marco had been acting odd, like he was uncomfortable with something.

Meaning something Ace had done in those few days they had been alone.

The Fire Logia sighed, he had known he had just been seeing things, even with the way Deuce, Thatch and Haruta had denied that he was seeing things, that Marco really felt the same way, he wasn’t so sure about that now – not after the way the blond had been acting on the way back.

Normally when they go out, the blond only transforms his arms, meaning he was able to talk while they were travelling, now he had done a full transformation into his Phoenix form, and made sure he kept on flying ahead of Ace, making sure he wasn’t able to talk to him.

Sighing, he pulled the robe that was lowered towards him and tied it around the eyes on Striker so she could be pulled out of the water. As he pulled her, and himself up and into the hull of the Moby, he stored her away.

Deuce approached him as he was binding the sails and pulling a tarp over the small boat, a broad smile on his face.

“Marco left already?”

Ace’s shoulders tensed, “he was never here, went right on deck as we arrived.”

Deuce gaped at his best friend, “come again.”

Ace looked away, “you were wrong, he doesn’t feel the same and I did something that made him uncomfortable today – he’s not talking to me. I already blew this mission, can we stop talking about it, please?”

As he made sure Striker was covered with tarp and tied up so she wouldn’t move with the harsh movements that sometimes happened while on the ocean, Ace didn’t see Deuce stopping Thatch from saying anything. The cook having joined them not too long ago, a huge smile on his face, most likely to ask how it went.

The smile Ace gave the cook as he passed was a very fake one, before he made his way to his own room to fill in his mission report, knowing that the next few days were going to be hell, especially seeing as he has his heart broken – not that he had ever given it away, but having an unrequired crush wasn’t fun.

Back in the storage room, Thatch was looking at Deuce, “what the hell was that?”

“Marco doesn’t feel the same, we gave him idle hope and it hurt him.”

Thatch blinked a few times, “bullshit.”

Deuce shook his head, “the commander ignored Ace for their whole trip back to the Moby, he even did a full transformation instead of a partial one – like he always does – and didn’t help Ace with putting away Striker – like he always does.”

Thatch choked, “that stupid chicken.”

Deuce looked at the other man, an eyebrow raised, as if asking for an explanation, making Thatch run a hand through his hair.

“Marco came to me some time ago to tell me he liked Ace, as in a lot, in the same way Ace liked him. I assured him he did, but he just smiled in that way he does when he doesn’t believe me. I can’t believe he would be so oblivious at reading the signals that are right here in front of him.”

Deuce shrugged, “we tried, Thatch, but Ace was really hurt just now, I don’t know what will make up for that – not after this.”

As he said this, the door to the storage was thrown open, the man they had been talking about standing there, scanning to room for their resident Firecracker, no doubt.

“Ace left -yoi?”

Both Deuce and Thatch hummed, making Marco curse before the blond slammed the door again as he left.

The other two looked at each other, “think this time they’ll finally realise that they’re both oblivious idiots that need to do us all a favour and kiss already?”

Thatch shrugged, “who knows, want to go out on deck and start a betting pool on that?”

Deuce grinned, “I don’t have anything better to do.”

Marco was still cursing as he arrived at the door leading to Ace’s room, knocking, he heard the other man sigh before calling out, “leave me alone, Deuce.”

Leaning his head on Ace’s door, he called through the wood, “it isn’t Deuce -yoi.”

The silence on the other side of the door almost made his afraid of what had happened, until the door was wrenched opened, showing Ace standing there looking at him.

“What do you want?”

Marco didn’t know what to say, from the look in Ace’s eyes it was clear that the other man was hurting, which wasn’t anything he had wanted to do to him. It did however confirm what Oyaji and Thatch had been telling him.

“I came to apologize -yoi.”

Ace scoffed, “you don’t have anything to apologize for, Marco, I know I did something to make you uncomfortable, if anything it should be me apologizing.”

Marco shook his head, “you didn’t do anything wrong -yoi.”

Ace looked at him sceptical, “then why were you ignoring me on the way back.”

Marco ran a hand through his hair, “can we do this inside -yoi? I’m quite sure we’ll have a lot more to talk about after I tell you what I came here to apologize for -yoi.”

Ace sighed but took a step to the side and let the other commander enter his quarters, closing the door and taking a seat on his bed, while Marco took a seat on his desk chair.

Sighing, Marco looked at Ace, “I wanted to apologize for ignoring you on the trip back, it wasn’t because of what you think -yoi.”

Ace scoffed again, but didn’t say anything, making Marco sigh again, “I screwed up this mission, I got distracted while I should have been on the look-out -yoi.”

Ace but his lip, “that doesn’t make me feel all that much better, Marco.”

“I got distracted watching you bent over when you were looking through those files -yoi. I felt like I was doing something I shouldn’t, not with not knowing how you felt, and with the age difference, I ignored you to put some distance between us to get over this infatuation I have with you -yoi.”

The silence that followed that statement had Marco looking up, to see Ace gaping at him, an indescribable look in the Fire Logia’s eyes.

“Ace -yoi, can you say something?”

“I… I… “

He didn’t say anything else, making Marco fear that Oyaji wasn’t right, at least until the other got up and approached, taking hold of his face, and tilting his head up, allowing Marco to look into Ace’s grey eyes – still shining with something – before the other man pulled him close and…

Ace was kissing him, closing his eyes, he wrapped his arms around the other’s waist from where he was sitting, pulling him closer as he kissed right back. The others had been right all along, while they had been to stupid and oblivious to see what had been there right in front of them.

Breaking the kiss, Marco pulled the other down in his lap, leaning his forehead against Ace’s, “I am sorry for hurting you -yoi.”

Ace shook his head, “don’t be, I should have just come out and say I liked you, instead of waiting for you to make the first move.”

Marco hummed, “why didn’t you -yoi.”

At Ace’s look he elaborated, “why didn’t you make the first move -yoi?”

Ace shrugged, “I was sure there wasn’t anything there from your side, so I didn’t want to embarrass myself, or destroy that which we already had.”

Marco chuckled, “so the exact reasons I didn’t make the first move either -yoi.”

Ace smiled, “I guess so, thank you for coming after me though.”

Marco smiled, “thank Oyaji, he made me see what I had done, and what was happening -yoi. It might also have something to do with Oyaji saying UST aloud though -yoi.”

Ace sputtered out a laugh, leaning his head against Marco’s still, giving the blond a close and personal view of the way the other’s face lit up as he laughed. And the way his grey eyes twinkled in their mirth.

Wrapping his hand around the nape of the other’s neck Marco pulled age down again, kissing him once again, to the approval of the Fire Logia if the moan he heard was any indication.

As they arrived at dinner together, their hands entwined, the whole mess hall got on their feet and started to cheer. Several people calling out, ‘about time’, or ‘finally’, making both of them grin at the fact that this all could have been resolved a lor sooner if they hadn’t been so blind.

But that didn’t matter now, they were together, even if it took them too long to see what was right in front of them.


End file.
